K9GTJ
Member
One of the oldest scanner feeds goes dark after Kokomo Police Department goes encrypted. I put the feed online in 2007 and it was a bumpy start. Radio Reference was not yet streaming. I managed to hook up with someone who I believe provided or hosted the Gwinnett County, GA feed to put me on his server. That was so much more reliable and surprisingly when the sonic booms from the Indiana Air National Guard rattle everyone's windows, the server remained up with 620 connections at one moment in time.
Kokomo/Howard County was always a top feed when Radio Reference started and in the earliest of days, I was sometimes the number one feed. While the verdict was still out about streaming public safety online, then Howard County Sherrif Marty Talbert contacted me directly staying he appreciated the feed. There was a time before when the Howard County Sherrif hosted its own website linked to the feed.
In 2013, life became too busy and my internet connection too unstable to continue hosting. The expectation of the public to provide a free service without interruption became more than I wanted to deal with and another group came on board to continue the stream. Smartphone apps and social media allowed them to develop a large following. I know they have found it challenging to manage a social media base of more than 70,000 followers. Users want to comment, share things, and just stir the pot. I cannot imagine the efforts that the group put in over the years.
This is the current statement on the feed.
As a broadcastify note.:
The feed provider/page owner after hearing about some of the officers thoughts on officer safety under the current circumstances in regards to the online feeds has decided to turn them off permanently. After a short discussion with the current administrators it was a unanimous decision.
We will continue to post calls as we hear them.
In the event of tornadic or dangerous weather, the feed provider will probably turn it back on for that purpose.
I don't know if KPD will bring back routine calls so actual scanner owners can listen again. I doubt anyone will try to bring a stream back online.
Please note this is not posted to start a debate on encryption or online feeds. It is to be informative and to remember one of the pioneers. Hopefully, the current group will add to this thread. I know I shared a private message with one of them back when they were starting out so they did visit from time to time.
Kokomo/Howard County was always a top feed when Radio Reference started and in the earliest of days, I was sometimes the number one feed. While the verdict was still out about streaming public safety online, then Howard County Sherrif Marty Talbert contacted me directly staying he appreciated the feed. There was a time before when the Howard County Sherrif hosted its own website linked to the feed.
In 2013, life became too busy and my internet connection too unstable to continue hosting. The expectation of the public to provide a free service without interruption became more than I wanted to deal with and another group came on board to continue the stream. Smartphone apps and social media allowed them to develop a large following. I know they have found it challenging to manage a social media base of more than 70,000 followers. Users want to comment, share things, and just stir the pot. I cannot imagine the efforts that the group put in over the years.
This is the current statement on the feed.
As a broadcastify note.:
The feed provider/page owner after hearing about some of the officers thoughts on officer safety under the current circumstances in regards to the online feeds has decided to turn them off permanently. After a short discussion with the current administrators it was a unanimous decision.
We will continue to post calls as we hear them.
In the event of tornadic or dangerous weather, the feed provider will probably turn it back on for that purpose.
I don't know if KPD will bring back routine calls so actual scanner owners can listen again. I doubt anyone will try to bring a stream back online.
Please note this is not posted to start a debate on encryption or online feeds. It is to be informative and to remember one of the pioneers. Hopefully, the current group will add to this thread. I know I shared a private message with one of them back when they were starting out so they did visit from time to time.
